


Her

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, spoilers for most recent story quests
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-11-07 19:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17966222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: Louisa and her friends go back in after Alex. Louisa belongs to me, Willow and Shane belong to willownorthbook, Jay and Astor belong to SpaceUnicornDot, Daine belongs to HellishSam, and Via belongs to east-valley on tumblr.





	Her

**Author's Note:**

  * For [willownorthbook](https://archiveofourown.org/users/willownorthbook/gifts), [HellishSam](https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellishSam/gifts), [SpaceUnicornDot](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpaceUnicornDot/gifts).



Louisa had never felt so helpless in her life. As the portal dissipated into nothingness, leaving them in darkness, she felt as though the world was falling from beneath her. Just as it had been on the hellish race out of here. And maybe she shouldn't have come back. Maybe she should have stayed outside, with Lisa, where it was safe, maybe she should have stayed with Lisa and held her tightly. Especially after Darko had teleported away the Keepers of the Light and Alex. Oh, sure, they'd managed to fight their way out of that situation, but Louisa would never forget the look of terror on Lisa's face when she’d disappeared, followed by the sheer relief when Louisa and Goldmist reappeared along with her friends. Would never forget how tightly Lisa had hugged her, sobbing into her shoulder. Would certainly never forget how Lisa had called out her name when she'd vanished to that strange place with Anwir and had to fight for her life.

Alex was fighting with Darko. Because of course she was, of course she'd throw herself at the man who'd imprisoned her girlfriend and tortured her for months. Louisa watched the beams of magic, electric blue meeting darkest red. She couldn't move, terrified of what might happen next. She'd seen what Darko was capable of, after all, but she somehow knew that Alex was strong, too. Though maybe a little too stubborn. Louisa tensed, preparing for the pain.

"You truly think you can best me? You are worthless. You are nothing," said Darko, not even breaking a sweat as he held off Alex's Soul Strike.

"No, I'm not!" Alex shouted, and pushed a little more of herself into it. But Darko hit back just as hard, and Louisa gasped at the mirrored feeling of pain hitting her chest and then pain in her sides and ribs from Alex hitting the wall. And then, Darko chuckled and held up his cane, flickering with fire again.

"Do say hello to Concorde for me," said Darko, eyes flashing as he got nearer.

"Don't you touch her!" Elizabeth called. As they watched, as Astor called out her name and held his hand out towards her, Elizabeth easily leaped the gap between the two platforms. Drawing out her rune wand, Elizabeth battled Darko. Several shots were exchanged from both sides, Louisa flinching at the absorbed blows. But then, at last, Darko was on the ground and Elizabeth was walking over to Alex. She bent down, reaching out her hand.

Louisa felt the pain of crystallisation even before the pink encased Elizabeth. She felt paralysed, yet at the same time, like shards of crystal were sticking into her skin. Alex screamed, closing her eyes against the inevitable.

"Oh, Alex," said Elizabeth, her voice gentle despite the pain Louisa knew she was in. "I'm so proud of you. I never told you that enough."

"No!" Alex cried, but then, a pain began in Louisa's chest. She barely heard Elizabeth's goodbye, could feel nothing over the pain that suddenly ripped through her, like she was falling apart. She didn't even feel herself thrown against a half-broken wall. The ringing in her ears seemed to last forever.

And now, it was quiet. So quiet, and dark, and Elizabeth was gone after that explosion, and Louisa still wasn't sure entirely what had happened. It had been moments of agony, like she was being torn apart, shattering, and now, all that remained was dull pain through every part of her. Probably from Alex, though Daine looked and sounded much the worse for wear. His breathing rasped, and he seemed to be struggling to stand. But then, the silence was suddenly broken by a sound.

"No," a whispered, broken plea as Alex crawled forwards on her hands and knees, sifting her fingers through the crystals, all that was left of Elizabeth. "Nononono, come on, please, you have to come back, you can't be gone, you can't be- please, Elizabeth, I need you!" She sobbed, her entire body shaking. And, though he struggled to so much as stand, Daine still walked across the bridge that had been created in the explosion, part of the broken bridge falling against the two floating platforms. Daine reached Alex just as Alex clutched the pink shards in her hands, clenching her jaw and squeezing her eyes shut, and tossed them against the ground with a cry of rage.

Alex huddled against the low, broken wall, drawing her knees up to her chest and folding her arms across them. She rested her forehead on her arms, sobbing.

It wasn't long before a group of friends surrounded Alex, Daine half-collapsing next to her. He breathed raggedly, his hand touching his chest for a moment as he winced.

"What do we do now?" Louisa asked, hating how weak her voice sounded. Jay and Willow had supported her over here, and now, though Louisa still felt shocked, she could at least stand. But only her body was okay. Normally, she was the optimist, the one who could see the upside of anything, the one who could keep everyone going when everything fell apart. But now... they were trapped in the space between worlds, just as Jay had been, once. Jay and Willow clung to each other, Willow looking like she'd seen a ghost. And, well, they had just seen someone die in front of them. Turn into crystal and shatter into a million pieces in an explosion. Same thing. Louisa tried not to think about that, though.

"We find a way out," said Willow, even as tears rolled down her face. Astor looked... well, if it was possible to look as broken as the place they stood in, he looked that broken. Tears shone on his cheeks, and Louisa realised that she'd never seen him cry before. He looked like he was about to do what Alex had just done, gathering up the crystal pieces and trying to put her back together as if she were some jigsaw puzzle that could be revived if only he could find how all the pieces fit together. But Astor didn't join them on the second platform that had been created by the breaking bridge. He stayed on the first one, as if frozen, and Louisa was glad that she couldn't feel emotional pain the same way she could physical.

"How, though?" Louisa asked. She looked around, peering into the darkness. The only spots of light were Willow's scars, and Daine's eyes. Though Daine's eyes kept closing for longer and longer periods of time.

"There must be some way out,” said Jay. “We’ll just look around and hopefully we’ll find something.” But, when Jay had finished speaking, Louisa heard something else. Like the distant echo of a song.

“Can anyone else hear music?” Louisa asked. Everyone else listened, though they all disagreed one by one. It was so faint, so Louisa couldn’t blame them.

“No,” said Willow, looking at her friend. “Where’s it coming from?”

Louisa listened carefully, closing her eyes and focusing all of her senses on what she could hear. At first, there was nothing, only the sounds of Alex's quiet sobs and Daine's quiet words and heavy breathing. But then, Louisa heard something that tugged at her heart in its familiarity. She'd heard something like this, once long ago, when she'd been searching for a girl who'd been hidden somewhere in the Greydew Mountains.

"Lisa," Louisa whispered, her heart thudding. She brushed away the tears beneath her glasses, though she started crying all over again at the knowledge that Lisa was unknowingly distracting her. Singing to her again, the way that she had once long ago before they'd even known each other.

"Just open your eyes, whatever you do," said Via. "Don't go falling off the edge into the void, now." But even she was quiet. Louisa couldn't imagine what it was like to know that they could have done something but hadn't been able to. She couldn't heal this. The thought almost made her sob, so she shoved it away. Concentrated on the sound of Lisa's voice.

"I know," said Louisa, looking back at them. "And I will."

"We'll go with you," said Jay. He looked more concerned about Willow, which Louisa couldn't blame him for. She'd been the first one who Willow had told about her visits to this in-between place, after all. Louisa smiled, grateful for the company and help. Though, Willow did glance back at Alex, concern creasing her brow. Or maybe she was looking at Daine, Louisa wasn't sure. She was worried about both of them, though. All of them, but especially the one who looked like he was dying, the one who looked like he was falling apart, the one who was actively falling apart, the one who looked so worried that words couldn't begin to describe it.

"Us too," said Via. "I can't just sit around and I'm bad at comforting so I'll come with you so I'm doing something."

"You go ahead," said Shane, looking back at Alex. "I'll stay and help comfort Alex." But he looked torn.

"Okay," said Via. She leaned up to kiss her boyfriend. "We'll let you know when we find a way out."

Louisa led the way, her feet taking her towards the sound of Lisa's voice. It was like Daine had said, how his feet had led him towards Cole. Only, her feet were leading her towards her fiancee. Or at least towards her voice.

"What is that?" Willow asked, pointing out a strange patch of the stone path that glowed bright white. Almost like a fragment of Aideen's light.

"Maybe it's Elizabeth," said Jay, though he struggled to say the word. Willow bit her trembling lip, blinking back tears.

"Or Aideen," said Via.

"No," said Louisa. "It's Lisa, she did something like this once before."

"Is that how you found her?" Jay asked, looking up at her with interest. He remembered how Louisa had suddenly broken off from the group when they'd been searching for Lisa, saying that it was just a hunch or a sense or something. Maybe it had been their souls calling out to each other, even before they'd known each other.

"Yeah," said Louisa. "I just followed her song and eventually I found that Pandoric rift."

"Do you think it'll work the same this time?" Willow asked, looking hopeful.

"I hope so," said Louisa. "But I guess there's only one way to find out." Together, the four of them crouched down and touched the glowing light. Louisa felt a surge of love flow through her, coming from Lisa. She felt like Lisa was close now, closer than she'd ever been. There was a bright flash of light, and, as the four watched, a bright light lifted up from the ground and showed a new bridge that hadn't been there before.

"Now, that's cool," said Via.

"Come on, let's follow the song," said Louisa, smiling at her friends.

While one group set off in search of a way out, Daine watched through half-open eyes as Astor slowly made his way over the bridge to join them. He knelt to touch the pink crystals, all that remained of Elizabeth. Daine realised, somewhat dimly, that this was the first time that he'd seen Astor cry. But he was definitely crying now, weeping silent tears that dripped onto the crystal as he picked up a fragment and spoke to it as if it were Elizabeth.

"I'm sorry, Sunshine," he whispered to it. "I'm so, so sorry. I failed you." Daine wanted to ask, but he wasn't sure if he could manage that. His chest hurt too much, breathing hurt, even every thump of his heart hurt. The fuck was it about the dark magic that made this infection pop up, that made his body fight itself? But he'd taken so much of it this time, and at the place where he was weakest. Right in the heart, too. He could feel the infection spreading up his neck, up onto his face. Could barely see it, too, when he looked down. But he tried not to move too much. Moving hurt, too.

"Why?" Alex whispered, tears still slipping down her face. Shane had his arm around her, concern etched over his features. "Why her, why couldn't it be me?"

"We need you too, you know," said Daine, somehow dragging his voice up from the depths. Fuck, was he dying? He really didn't want to. Maybe Cole would appear to save him again. Maybe. Especially after he'd had that huge, sappy talk about him. But that somehow didn't bring a smile to Daine's lips.

"You need her more," said Alex. She gave a sob. "All of this is my fault. I'm the stupid one who went after Darko. God, why couldn't I just leave it? Why do I always have to fight, why do I always have to prove myself? And now we're stuck here and Elizabeth's dead and it's all my stupid fault and I'm so sorry!" Fresh tears fell down her face, her body shuddering as she gripped herself just that little bit tighter.

"If... if you hadn't stopped to fight Darko, maybe we would've been in even more danger," said Shane. "Remember last time, when he followed us through the portal from Pandoria? What if that had happened again? Maybe that's what he was planning all along, maybe that's why he let us go so easy."

"He's right," said Daine. "You've gotta... gotta stop beating yourself up over this, 'lex." God, he could barely keep his eyes open. His hand came up to weakly grasp the crystal around his neck, the one that he could still feel Ydris' presence in. Maybe that was all that was keeping him alive. "It's not your fault that she died."

"But she died saving me," said Alex. "If not her, it would've been me."

"She knew what she was doing," said Shane. "You've got all of us, remember? And I know that might not make the pain any less, but it has to be something. You have your friends."

"Yeah, fat lot of good that'll do when we're stuck here," said Alex, gesturing to the space around them.

"Oh, would you fucking stop?" said Daine. Holding the crystal was somehow giving him strength. "Most of the group who came through here are looking for the way out as we speak. And they'll find it." Daine wasn't sure if Alex believed him, but he had to try.

"I never got to say goodbye to them," said Alex. "My friends, my family, Maya... I'd just reunited with Anne, the woman I love, and then what do I fucking do?" Her fingers dragged through her hair, tugging on the ends of it as she curled a little tighter. Almost as if she were trying to disappear entirely.

"If you keep beating yourself up over it, you'll never move on," said Daine. "Yeah, it hurts, but there are literally bigger problems here."

"You do need to grieve, though," said Shane. "Grieving is healthy. But please, you have to stop beating yourself up over this."

"You're right," said Alex, trembling as she looked at Daine. As she looked at Astor, still kneeling in what was left of Elizabeth. "You look like shit, Daine."

"Yeah, thanks, I feel it," said Daine.

"Did... did Sabine do that to you?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, she did," said Daine. "When I threw myself in front of her to save Willow and my other friends... it hurt like hell, but it held her off. And I didn't take as much of a beating as Astor did, either."

"I didn't get sick, though, boy," said Astor, looking at him from across the distance. “If I'd been there sooner..."

"But you weren't," said Shane. "You can't always be there in the moment. But you can be there afterwards."

"How, though?" Alex asked. "How can we go on now, when we're stuck here, when Elizabeth's dead?"

"Anne needs to recover," said Shane. "And so do you, now. And Daine needs to go directly to Louisa to get healed before he drops dead."

"I know," said Daine, letting the wall behind him take his full weight. "And I will. Just... when we're free."

"Good," said Astor. "Because your pain is hurting her too, and not just on the emotional level."

"I know," said Daine again. He was just so tired.

Alex shivered suddenly, and Daine noticed that he could see their breath hanging in the air amid all of the ash and dust.

"I'm so cold," said Alex.

"I'd say it's the shock, but I'm cold too," said Shane.

"Here, let me," Daine began, but trying to summon a spark of flame made his vision grey out. He felt Astor pull him away from Alex's shoulder, felt Astor's hands gently slapping his cheeks.

"Wake up," said Astor, and when Daine opened his eyes, he found fear in Astor's eyes. "Do not, under any circumstances, go to sleep. Or try to use your magic. You are very, very sick, Daniel."

"I know," said Daine. He could feel himself fading. The fight had been too much, even with his friends there to help. This infection... it was killing him. Daine looked up, tears in his eyes. Hopefully the necklace's magic wouldn't drain him too much.

Days. It had been days since Ydris had seen Daine disappear into that portal. He'd heard some sort of commotion, had felt something happen, had felt the sweep of magic that heralded the Sun's return to Jorvik. But now, he felt the magic of the necklace grip him, heard Daine's voice as clearly as if he were whispering it into his ear. What he heard made him drop the bale of hay that he'd been carrying.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for any of this. Ydris, I... I love you. So much but I don't know if I'll survive this. I'm sick. Really sick. Look after Cloud for me." And with it, Ydris could feel Daine's pain, could feel shadows of the infection that was ravaging his body. It was exactly the same as last time, when Ydris had first pulled his love from Pandoria.

And Ydris knew, in that instant, that he couldn't wait at home any longer. That he needed to go, needed to be there for his future husband.

"Don't you dare die," Ydris whispered, feeling tears (far more familiar now) rolling down his face as he pulled his purple coat on and left the peninsula in a hurry. "I cannot lose you, my phoenix. Not again."

When Ydris showed up at Guardian's Dale, nobody batted an eyelid. Not only because they all knew by now that he was betrothed to one of the Keepers of Light, but because they were busy listening to Lisa. She sat on the platform at the base of the stairs, strumming her guitar and singing snatches of her song. She looked so earnest, so emotional, tears rolling down her face yet somehow her voice was clear. Derek did look up, though, doing a double-take at the sight of Ydris. He leaned close to Anne.

"What's hot magician guy doing here?" Derek whispered. Though she'd been gone for months and was now noticeably pinker, it was like nothing had ever changed between him and Anne.

"I don't know," said Anne drily, "I just got here."

"Where's Daine?" Ydris asked.

"In there," said Linda, pointing to where the portal had been. Ydris felt fear like he'd never known flood his body. He instantly moved to open another portal, but Evergray grabbed him by the arm.

"Lisa is working on it," said Evergray. "If you open a portal now, it could disrupt it. Could let Garnok into our world." Ydris pursed his lips, curling his hand into a fist, but obeyed. It was far too risky, and Daine's life was on the line. The crystal had gone quiet, but... Ydris could only hope that Daine was alright.

"It's gonna be alright," Lisa sang quietly, though her brow furrowed.

Inside, Louisa's group found another crystal, another snatch of Lisa's voice. Louisa's hands and knees were both grazed from stumbling a few times in the gloom as they'd followed her direction, but she couldn't feel it. Couldn't feel anything beyond the desperate need to follow her fiancee's voice. And this time, it was Willow pulling her away from the edge, Willow stopping Louisa from walking into a bottomless pit or simply a pillar. And Louisa thanked her friend, though she still scuffed her palms and knees. But she could heal them later, once they were out of here. With each light found, they found another bridge, saw part of a blockage dissolve away into nothingness to give them a new passage. And then, they came to a strange thing, some kind of almost mechanical contraption. Jay perked up, eyes brightening at the sight of the strange thing.

"I've seen one of these before," said Jay, looking as if he wished that he could get a better look at it. Louisa's heart panged at the knowledge that Astor would love this. "Back before we worked with the druids, my people used to use these to open portals back into Jorvik."

"Well, that's handy," said Via. "What are we waiting for? You're the Pandorian here, start this baby up and let's get outta here."

"Just one problem," said Jay, tapping his fingers together. "I don't... actually know how to use these."

"He is young, remember," said Willow. "He never learned how to use one of these."

"Alright, I get it," said Via with a shrug. "My parents never taught me how to use all the Kallter stuff. Maybe they will, someday."

"I hope so," said Louisa. She wasn't sure what to do, at first. But then, she saw another glimmer of light, heard Lisa's song coming from somewhere nearby. She walked over to it, feeling like Lisa was closer now.

Jay touched these last few lights, and they all watched as pieces began to come together, slotting into place. And, at the last light, the music swelled and Louisa felt something in her heart swell with it. Tears pricked her eyes, she felt so close to Lisa now. But she closed her eyes, brushed away the tears, and looked up at the strange stone thing just as it began to spin at Jay's touch. It glowed, a blue light that suddenly shot off into the void. A tremor passed through the space between worlds, and light began to filter back into the area. Along with sounds from outside. Lisa's song was now louder than ever, and Louisa forgot about her friends for a few moments as she started towards the sound. But she knew that they were right behind her. Until she felt pain flash through her chest and turned around to find Daine on his knees, Willow with one of his arms over her shoulder.

"Help me," said Willow, looking towards her friends imploringly. Louisa ran back over the bridge onto the second platform and got Daine's arm over her shoulders.

"Come on," said Louisa, wincing at the pain that suddenly flooded her. Why had Daine been hiding this from them for so long, why hadn't she been able to feel it?

Somehow, they managed to get back through the portal, Louisa almost crying as Lisa's voice became clearer. And she did cry as they finally set foot back into Jorvik. There was Lisa, at the bottom of the stairs, sitting on the glowing platform and playing her guitar. Everyone else surrounded them, Ariana and Tyler and Evergray and Anne and Concorde and Big Bonnie and Linda and Derek and Brooks and Roo. And Ydris, who gasped and then ran up the stairs to take his injured fiance from Louisa and Willow. It seemed to make Willow happy, to see Ydris take Daine into his arms and cradle him as if it was easy. Even though it had been difficult for Louisa and WIllow to carry him. But then, as soon as Ydris disappeared down the stairs with Daine, Lisa set down her guitar and ran up the stairs, colliding with her fiancee halfway.

"You're back, you're back, you're back," Lisa whispered, kissing Louisa's face while they both cried.

"And we're holding up traffic," said Louisa with a shaky laugh. Lisa grinned and linked hands with her fiancee, the two of them descending the stairs.

They held each other for a long time in Guardian's Dale. Lisa was trembling, as was Louisa. Neither of them could stop crying.

"I'm sorry I left you," said Lisa. Louisa was surprised.

"What?" Louisa asked, blinking in confusion. "You didn't leave me."

"Before," said Lisa. "When I ran away and had that breakdown, and when we had that fight here years ago. I never should have left you and now I know how it feels and I put you through that."

"It's okay," said Louisa. "I'm over that now, I know you're with me and you love me and-"

"But now I know how it feels and I just feel so bad," said Lisa. "And I'm so sorry I put you through that." Louisa hugged her fiancee tightly, tears still burning her eyes.

"I got your song," said Louisa. That made Lisa brighten up, smiling.

"Really?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah," said Louisa, a smile stretching across her face. "Just like how I found you that first time."

"You heard that?" Lisa asked. Louisa nodded. Lisa smiled. "I was just calling out for anyone who'd listen, it was this thing I knew in my soul, like knowing how to heal for the first time. I just... called out with my soul. But how come nobody else heard it?"

"Starshine did," said Louisa. "But I don't know why I heard it and nobody else did."

"I'd say to ask Astor but he looks pretty broken up," said Lisa.

And just like that, reality reasserted itself. There was no denying it now, when people started asking questions. When Anne pulled Alex into her arms and hugged her so tightly that it looked like she'd never let go. When Elizabeth didn't follow them out. But Louisa didn't want to be the one to break that news. She only held Lisa's hand tightly as the group of them walked to the campsite and waited for the inevitable.


End file.
